What Counts as a Digital Asset

Digital assets include cryptocurrency, online financial and brokerage accounts, email, social media profiles, cloud-stored photos and documents, domain names, loyalty points, and revenue-generating accounts such as online stores or content channels. Some carry real monetary value; others are sentimental. Both can be locked behind passwords, encryption, and terms-of-service agreements that do not automatically yield to an executor’s authority.

New York’s Framework for Fiduciary Access

New York has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, found in EPTL Article 13-A. It establishes a hierarchy. First, any online tool a provider offers, such as a legacy contact or inactive account manager, controls who may access the account. If the user did not use such a tool, the directions in a will, trust, or power of attorney govern. Only if neither exists does the provider’s terms-of-service agreement apply. For the Farmingdale executor, this means his mother’s choices, made while alive, largely determine what he can reach.

The Practical Hurdles in Surrogate’s Court

Even with authority, executors face real friction. Providers often require a court order or letters testamentary from the Nassau or Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court before disclosing the contents of communications like emails. Cryptocurrency presents a sharper problem: without the private key or seed phrase, the assets may be permanently unrecoverable, no matter what a court orders. A Hauppauge family that cannot locate a hardware wallet’s recovery phrase may simply lose the funds.

Planning So Your Executor Is Not Locked Out

Smart planning prevents these dead ends. First, use every provider’s built-in legacy or beneficiary tool. Second, include explicit digital asset authority in your will, in any trust under EPTL Article 7, and in your power of attorney under GOL 5-1513, since a general financial power may not be enough for online accounts. Third, maintain a secure, regularly updated inventory of accounts and where credentials are stored, kept separate from the will itself so it is not exposed in the public probate file. A Bay Shore business owner with an online storefront should especially document how the operation runs day to day.

Do Not Forget Value and Tax

Digital assets with value, especially cryptocurrency, count toward the New York gross estate and may matter near the 2026 estate tax exclusion of $7,350,000, with the cliff at roughly $7,717,500 taxing the full estate if exceeded. An overlooked crypto holding can quietly affect tax exposure.

Consult a New York Attorney

Digital asset law is evolving and provider policies vary widely. Long Island residents should work with a New York estate attorney to build proper authority into their documents and prepare their executors before the Surrogate’s Court process begins.